Honestly I would need $600,00 a year to put up with what blokes like Abbot do - opening himself up to ignorant misquotes of him just stating the obvious.
He puts himself out there for journalists and posters on blogs to completely distort his intentions.
Here is what was written about his comments - note the first sentence !!
" Mr Abbott, one of the few ex-ministers willing to discuss his personal finances, said: "the Abbotts are just soldiering on as best we can" after having $90,000 lopped off his former ministerial salary.
"What's it called? Mortgage stress?" he joked. "The advent of the Rudd Government has caused serious mortgage stress for a section of the Australian community, ie former Howard government ministers."
The base pay of a federal MP is $127,600 a year, with electorate allowances and perks such as a car on top. Cabinet ministers earn about $219,000 a year.
"You don't just lose power, in inverted commas, you certainly lose income as well, and if you are reliant on your parliamentary salary for your daily living, obviously it makes a big difference," Mr Abbott told The Australian.
While emphasising that he was not complaining, the 49-year-old MP said he was one of a number of ex-ministers who, without outside financial interests, had taken a financial battering from November's election defeat for the Coalition. "
